That means you must be discriminating in what dogs you choose to mate yours to. That is, to exercise selective dog breeding.
How do you know what to be selective about?
This can only be achieved once you are pretty familiar with the Breed Standards for your breed, and have met enough dogs to be able to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each dog you come across. Going to dog shows is a great help here!
For example, you might own a bitch that is a little over size for her breed. All other things being equal you should try to mate her with a standard or slightly smallish male, rather than another oversized dog.
When it comes time to register some of the resulting puppies, any that are large for their age should be sold as pets only.
Sounds good in theory but….
Selective dog breeding is often easier in theory than in practice, particularly if you are not a successful “show” breeder.
Why? Because you’ll more than likely have a very limited range of breeders, who are willing to work with you, to choose from.
It’s a circular problem! “Serious” breeders often say hobby breeders are irresponsible because they don’t practice selective breeding, but where there’s little to select from, how can they?
1. Both dogs must be registered.
Make sure that both yours and the other person’s dogs are registered with your kennel club. If either are not, the puppies that result will not be registerable.
2. Mate to a dog that complements your own.
Whatever flaws your dog has (and there is no such thing as the “perfect dog”) seek for it a mate that is strong in that area.
If your dog has poorly shaped ears, go for a mate that comes from a line of dogs that have great ears… Where yours has a poor coat, pick a partner with a great one… You get the picture!
And it’s not just about appearance. Dog breeding for behavior is also important. While temperament is affected by the way a dog is raised and the experiences it has growing up, it has a strong element of inheritance to it.
So if your dog is a bit nervous or aggressive, go for a mate that has a great temperament. It might even be better not to breed such dogs at all, especially if the dog with the behavioral problem is the bitch.
Why? Because the bitch raises the litter, and as such is an integral part of their early environment. So she has a very profound influence on the temperaments of her puppies.
3. Breed to minimize genetic flaws
Your goal should be to produce dogs that are not affected by the major known hereditary diseases occurring in your breed. So don’t be tempted to inbreed or even line breed your dogs.
Go for a mate as least related to yours as possible, particularly if most of your puppies will end up as someone’s pet.
Weighing it all up
Weighing it all up is pretty complex. In practice, chances are you’ll have few mates to choose from anyway, which will narrow down the factors you’ll have to work with, consider and balance out.
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